Finally at Peace
by Sunshine After the Rain
Summary: Spoilers up through the "Always" promo. In spite of the fact that she currently had no job and no justice for her mother's murder, she was at peace. She knew Rick would be by her side through it all. She loved him and he loved her, always. M to be safe.


**A/N:** If you can't tell, I am on a roll writing fanfics. This one has been begging me to write it since I saw the promo for "Always." I hope this, or some variant of this occurs; however, I still don't doubt Marlowe has more tricks up his sleeves for our favorite couple.

**Spoilers: **Spoilers for everything Castle up through the promo for "Always"

**Disclaimer:** This is season four of Castle, and it still isn't a sure thing Caskett will come together officially. If you can't tell by my previous stories, I would have had them together seasons ago if I owned the show, but I don't. Nothing you recognize is mine.

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Kate Beckett was hanging off her apartment building's roof. She was barely hanging on. How she had got here was a long story, but in short, she had pursued her mother's killer, in spite of Castle's pleas for her to stop. When she had cornered him on her rooftop, he attacked, and she was no match for him.

Oh, how she wished she had stopped now. Castle had told her he loved her earlier, twice. He had begged with her to leave the case alone, for her own good, but she hadn't been able to let go. Now, that left her hanging on the rooftop where she was slowly losing her grip. Her exhausted muscles wouldn't let her up. Her left hand slipped off the roof leaving her only holding on with her right hand. Slowly her fingers on that hand started slipping off.

Were these her last few seconds alive on Earth? It was a strange feeling. Even more strangely, it wasn't regret for not bringing her mother's killer justice at the forefront of her mind. No, all she could see was Rick Castle's face as he pled with her not to chase this guy anymore. His words echoed in her ear as her last finger slipped. _I love you Kate. If that means anything, just don't do this. _

She was free falling for a second and then BAM! Her body hit the fire escape. The wind was knocked out of her, and her muscles were weak from fatigue. Aside from that, she felt fine. No broken bones. She was sure she would have bruising, but she was alive. Gloriously, miraculously, alive!

In that moment, she knew what she had to do. She had to let go. She had just been given a third chance to live, and she was going to take it.

First, she knew where she had to head. She hailed a taxi and had it take her to an all too familiar location for her in these past few years.

The taxi dropped her off at the entrance to the graveyard. The skies started growing dark as she walked to the familiar stone, in front of which she had spent so much time. A storm was blowing in

She knelt down in the grass.

"Hi Mom, I am here again. I nearly died today again. I…I can't do this anymore. I want to find justice for you, but I need to live my life. Castle, Rick Castle, you remember him? Of course you do, you loved his books. You know he's been shadowing me. You also know he told me he loved me after I got shot. Well Mom, I think, no, I know I have fallen in love with him in return. In order to be with him, I need to let go of this investigation." Kate felt tears beginning to well up in her eyes. "I need to stop chasing your murderer. I already resigned from the police force, and he is the only solid thing I have left. I am sorry I can't bring you justice, but Rick is a good man, one of the best. You would love him." By this point, tears were streaming down her face. Letting go of this case was the single hardest thing she had ever had to do.

As she sobbed, the skies opened up and it started pouring. A part of her knew she should seek shelter, but the rest of her knew she needed these few minutes to come to terms with letting go.

Finally, she got up. "Goodbye for now Mom. I will come back and visit."

Kate slowly walked away. There was no hurry. By now, she was drenched to the bone anyway. She aimlessly wandered out of the graveyard and through the streets.

Although it wasn't a conscious decision, she found herself outside of Rick Castle's building. She walked into the lobby and nodded at the doorman, who gave her a strange look for her appearance. He knew her though and waved her on up.

She took the elevator up and finally she was outside Rick's door.

She knocked on it repeatedly until a surprised looking Rick Castle opened it. After seeing him there, no words were able to come to her mouth, so she did the only thing that could come to her mind at that point, she reached for his face and pulled him in for a kiss.

Castle wasn't returning it though. His lips and hands were still. Why wasn't he returning it? He said he loved her.

He pulled away, "Kate, Kate. Not that you showing up and snogging the life out of me isn't one of my dearest fantasies, should we be doing this? You look like you've been through hell. I just don't want there to be any regret for you in the morning…"

"Rick, no more regrets. I nearly died again today."

Rick's eyes widened at that but she held up a finger "Let me finish. As I was hanging off my rooftop, about to fall, I only could think of one thing I regretted, and it wasn't that I was unable to avenge my mother's murder. It was the fact that I hadn't listened to you. I hadn't dived in with you. I want you Rick, all of you. I love you."

With that last sentence, Rick dove in and kissed her and oh, it was everything she imagined it would and could be and more. It was all lips, tongue and teeth and it was wonderful.

Finally, they broke apart and Rick muttered, "We _are_ talking about your whole falling off a roof thing later."

Kate chuckled slightly, "I wouldn't expect anything less. Now take me to bed Rick."

Rick grasped her hand and led her through his office into his bedroom, shutting the door behind them. Just as Rick leaned in to kiss her, Kate shivered.

"Let's get these wet clothes off you shall we?"

Before this, she would have written that line off as one of the worst pick up lines ever, but now, this was real, they were happening.

"First thing is first, before anything else, you need a hot shower."

Kate let out a small groan of frustration.

Rick smirked, "Impatient are we? I can join you if you'd like."

"Oh, I'd like, very much," she said, slightly breathlessly.

Rick walked into the bathroom and Kate trailed behind him. He reached over and turned on the warm water. Then, assisting each other, they got their clothes off. Suddenly, they were both naked in front of each other. That moment wasn't as awkward as she had suspected it would have been. It felt natural, like they had always been heading towards this. Kate supposed in some ways, they had.

Kate stepped under the steaming water, beaconing Rick to join her and he did. They slowly washed each other, realizing that this moment was far more intimate than just about anything they could do under the covers. He washed every inch of her, and she him. Finally both were warm and clean. Rick shut off the water and grabbed two towels. One he wrapped around himself, the other he used to dry Kate. He then took her by the hand and led her to the bedroom.

Kate caught the smoldering look in his eyes and leaned in and kissed him. They fell to the bed, a tangle of limbs.

That night, as they finally came together, Kate felt her heart swell with love for this wonderful, incredible man.

The next morning, Kate awoke to sunlight streaming through the window. The storm had broken. She was wrapped in the embrace of Rick Castle. In spite of the fact that she currently had no job and no justice for her mother's murder, she was at peace. She knew Rick would be by her side through it all. She loved him and he loved her, always.

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As always, please review. I appreciate the feedback more than you can know. While I know it can be tempting to just read and move onto the next fanfic (I've been guilty of it too, and I am a writer), we authors appreciate your kind words and critiques more than you can know. Leave me a line telling me what you liked and also if you didn't like anything. I take it all into consideration and it helps me become a better writer.


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